Job Advertisement: Director of Mount Laguna Observatory

The San Diego State University (www.sdsu.edu)
Department of Astronomy (mintaka.sdsu.edu) invites applications and nominations
for the Director of Mount Laguna Observatory. We are seeking a
dynamic leader who will play an important role in furthering the
Department's missions of research, education, and outreach in
astronomy. Applicants must have a doctorate and a demonstrated record
of accomplishment in astronomical research to warrant appointment as a
tenured professor in the Department of Astronomy at SDSU. The rank
and salary will be determined by the successful applicant's experience
and qualifications, but will be a 12-month appointment.

The successful Director candidate is expected to pursue a vigorous
research program with external funding, and ideally develop
collaborations with the current faculty. Experience in instrumentation
is highly desirable, and an immediate duty will be to lead the effort
to bring the new 1.25-m telescope -- scheduled for completion later
this year -- to fully robotic operation. As a member of the teaching
faculty, the successful Director hire will teach at a reduced load of
one course per semester.

The Department of Astronomy offers Bachelor's and Master's degrees in
Astronomy, and currently consists of six faculty. The department is
observationally-oriented with expertise in interacting binary stars,
stellar evolution, exoplanets, novae, and supernovae. Mount Laguna
Observatory is located at an excellent dark-sky site approximately 50
miles from campus at an elevation of 6100 ft. The primary research
instrument is currently a 1-m reflector equipped with CCD and
near-infrared cameras for direct imaging, and a CCD Cassegrain
spectrograph.

We will begin reviewing applications in January 2014, but review will
continue until the position is filled. To receive full consideration,
applicants should submit by 31 December 2013 a curriculum vitae
(including list of publications), a narrative describing their
professional experience and research interests, and the names of four
references familiar with the applicant's qualifications to the
following address:

Eric Sandquist, Search Committee Chair

Department of Astronomy

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA 92182-1221.

SDSU is an equal opportunity employer and does not
discriminate against persons on the basis of race, religion, national
origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression,
marital status, age, disability, pregnancy, medical condition, or
covered veteran status.

The person holding this position is considered a
"mandated reporter" under the California Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set
forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of
employment.